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Allergies are Nothing to Sneeze At! Originally published in Natural Living Magazine Volume 2-Issue 2 Allergies, for a lot of people, is just another word like cataracts or migraines. If you do not suffer from them, you do not worry too much about it. And yet for so many Canadians, allergies are something they wake up with every morning, and go to bed with every night. The watery eyes, stuffy nose, headaches and sneezing are more than just an inconvenience. They can keep you from doing the things you enjoy, and they can leave you depressed, irritable or even seriously ill. As a practicing Naturopathic physician, I have had the opportunity to work with many patients who suffer from allergies, first in identifying the allergens they suffer from, and second (perhaps more importantly) in helping their bodies to better handle the allergens they come in contact with on a daily basis. The good news is that allergies can be beaten. Identification The first step in treating allergies is to identify the allergen or allergens themselves. As Machiavelli might say, "know thy enemy!" This can be tricky business. Although most allergens fall into three main categories (foods, pets and pollens, and chemicals) there are virtually hundreds of allergens out there, and they lurk just about everywhere. Finding out which one or ones is causing the allergy can sometimes take a little time. Secondly, allergies can be difficult to identify because of the confusing nature of the symptoms themselves. Congestion, sneezing and itchy or watery eyes are obvious indicators. Fatigue, body pain and headaches are not. Some people may suffer from moderate allergies and simply not make the connection. Fortunately, there are a variety of useful ways to identify allergies. For foods, a simple hypo-allergenic (non-allergy causing) diet can usually turn up the source of an allergy within ten days, after which time it can be removed from the diet. Some of the most common food allergens are found in dairy products, wheat, potatoes, and eggs, while less common ones can be found in citrus fruits, nuts or tomatoes. If allergens in such foods are found to be the cause of the allergy, they should then be avoided and/or substituted with other foods. For dairy, there are several easy alternatives. SoyOne or Soya-Pro, for example, are soy-based protein powders that are excellent substitutes for dairy. For wheat, finding a good bakery that offers wheat-free (gluten-free) breads is an option. Ask around; such bakeries do exist and are becoming more and more common. You could even try baking your own bread. For pets, pollens and chemicals (such as cleansers, soaps, solvents, or off-gases from new construction or carpets) there are blood tests and skin-scratch tests that can help identify the culprits. Once identified, removing these sources from your home or workplace is essential. Try switching to hypo-allergenic soaps for your face and body and a natural cleanser for your house. Limiting your exposure to potential allergens is in itself a useful test and, if it is at all possible, try to leave the house for a couple of days and monitor your symptoms. Treatment Treating allergies is the next step, and it involves finding a balance between the exposure a person has to allergens and how sensitive they are to them. Sometimes the allergen is obvious, like a cat or feather pillow, and the best thing to do is remove it. But often the allergens are wide-ranging and limiting exposure is difficult. In such cases, it is important to consider a person's allergic capacity or threshold. A useful analogy is to think of a cup. As allergens in the environment start to fill the cup, the body reacts in its own natural way by emptying it. As long as it doesn't overflow you maintain a balance and the symptoms won't appear. But, even though our bodies are built to handle a certain amount of allergenic load, our systems can sometimes become overloaded and fail - the cup, therefore, starts to overflow. The naturopathic solution to this situation is to simply help the body regain its ability to better handle the load. The liver, for example, is the body's main filter and is responsible for clearing the things you don't want circulating (such as histamine or allergenic complexes) and keeping the blood clean. If the liver becomes overburdened, it can not do its job properly. Not surprisingly, treatment for allergies often includes encouraging the liver to work more effectively. Botanical medicines such as silymarin (Sangster's Milk Thistle) help the liver to function optimally. As a general principle, I encourage the use of standardized extracts to ensure the quality of the medicine. Another solution may be to work with the "mast cells." Mast cells are cells in the body that release histamine when exposed to an allergen. This is what causes the running nose, watery eyes and sneezing. By encouraging the mast cells to be less eager in releasing histamine, the symptoms can be reduced. Happily, nature has given us a number of tools to do just that, including bioflavinoids (such as quercetin or rutin found in darkly pigmented berries such as blueberries) and Vitamin C . There are some products such as Sangster's ALRG Plus that offer both direct sinus relief and mast cell stabilization with bioflavinoids, and also support the liver. Proper diet, exercise, rest, and avoidance of tobacco and alcohol can go a long way in maintaining good health. It is not a secret formula; it is only good sense. The healthier you are in general, the better able your body is to deal with the allergens you come in contact with. Balance Understanding this balance between exposure to the allergens and the body's ability to handle and clear them is the key to treatment. Sometimes patients ask me why, if their symptoms are allergy-related, they haven't been suffering all of their lives. It is true that many people do not develop symptoms until their 30s or later. The answer could be that they have always been allergic but their ability to process the allergens is only now becoming overburdened. Their cup, that is, has just begun overflowing. But, if you can successfully strike that balance between your exposure to allergens and your body's ability to process them, then you might not have to get all teary-eyed after all. By Dr. Gordon Sims ND <back to Natural Living Magazine Online Archive Directory>

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